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Get the facts about safe water and adequate sanitation and how it affects children and their families.
- Depending on living conditions, including climate and physical activity, drinking-water needs for individuals vary, but the optimal amount is estimated at 2 quarts per day for a 130-pound person and 1 quart per day for a 22-pound child.
- Roughly 12 percent of the world's population, or 884 million people, do not have access to safe water.
- About 2.5 billion people in the world do not have access to adequate sanitation — roughly two-fifths of the world's population.
- Approximately 1.8 million children die each year as a result of diseases caused by unclean water and poor sanitation. This is around 5,000 deaths a day.
- Diarrheal diseases can be reduced by more than 40 percent through the simple practice of washing hands with soap and water.
- Water-related diseases are the second biggest killer of children worldwide. Number one is acute respiratory infections, such as tuberculosis.
- Approximately 97.5 percent of the water on earth is saltwater. If all the world's water could fit in an average bucket, only 1 teaspoon would be drinkable.
- Nearly 90 percent of water-related diseases are due to unsafe water, sanitation and hygiene; and most victims are children in developing countries.
- The average person in the developing world uses a little more than 2.5 gallons of water each day for drinking, washing and cooking. Whereas the average person in the developed world uses 13 gallons per day only for toilet flushing.
- Agriculture uses more than 80 percent of the world's total water consumption.
- Worldwide, approximately 425 million children under 18 do not have safe water.
Sources: www.who.int, www.wateraid.org, www.unicef.org
